Dispelling the Darkness : A Jesuit’s Quest for the Soul of Tibet / Donald S. Lopez, Thupten Jinpa.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lopez, Donald S., Jr., 1952- author.

Thupten Jinpa, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Desideri, Ippolito, 1684-1733--Criticism and interpretation.

Desideri, Ippolito.

Desideri, Ippolito, 1684-1733. Works--Selections--English--2017.

Desideri, Ippolito, 1684-1733--Travel--China--Tibet Autonomous Region.

Jesuits--Missions--China--Tibet Autonomous Region--History--18th century.

Jesuits.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (302 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, [2017]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

The Italian Jesuit Ippolito Desideri was one of the most remarkable of the many remarkable Jesuits who made the perilous journey to Buddhist lands. The present volume provides an introduction to his encounter with Buddhist philosophy, describing his efforts to save the souls of the people of Tibet. In 1721, as he waited in Tibet for a letter from Rome that would grant him papal permission to remain in Tibet and carry out his mission to convert its people to the true faith, he continued writing what he considered his magnum opus, a massive treatise, written in excellent classical Tibetan, complete with citations from Buddhist texts, to prove the errors of Buddhism. This book is a study of Desideri's unfinished masterpiece. It includes extended excerpts from Desideri's Inquiry concerning the Doctrines of Previous Lives and Emptiness, translated into a European language for the first time here. It also contains a detailed commentary, discussing Desideri's deft use of Buddhist terms and tropes to make his case. In addition, the volume includes a full translation and study of Desideri's Essence of the Christian Religion. Here, he offers his refutation of the doctrine of emptiness before going on to set forth the tenets of the Roman Catholic faith in the vocabulary of Tibetan Buddhism.-- Provided by publisher

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Introduction

1. Introduction to Inquiry concerning the Doctrines of Previous Lives and Emptiness

2. Selections from Inquiry concerning the Doctrines of Previous Lives and Emptiness

3. Introduction to Essence of the Christian Religion

4. Essence of the Christian Religion

A Final Thought

Appendix 1: Topical Outline (sa bcad ) of the Inquiry

Appendix 2: Subjects of the Inquiry

Appendix 3: A Latin Version of the Inquiry

Notes

Acknowledgments

Index

Notes:

Includes index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Sep 2018)

ISBN:

9780674977747

0674977742

9780674977730

0674977734

OCLC:

979560329